“What about the other girl? Should I bring her too?”
Onyx rolled a blunt between his fingers. “She stays right where she is. I doubt she is up from any travel at the moment. As he spoke, an evil sneer painted his lips.
“But the ag, agent said—the angel of death said to bring both girls,”
“We’ll give them the Lancaster girl. That should buy us some time. We keep the Russo girl until her daddy brings me what I want.”
21
At six p.m., Sin and Troy were seated in the security office at Sloppy Joe’s watching the action in the bar. By ten after the hour, Troy was pacing. “I don’t like this. I told you Onyx, or whatever the leader’s real name is, wouldn’t play along. The man we released is probably dead.”
Sin didn’t answer, she just continued to stare at the monitors. To relieve tension, she pulled her Balisong—her butterfly knife—from her jeans’ pocket, flipped it open, and put it through a battery of maneuvers.
A few minutes later, she witnessed a disheveled blond stumble through the front door. “Becca just arrived,” she said, elbowing Troy in the ribs.
Troy leaned over her shoulder, studying the screen. “But where is Pia?” Getting no response, he continued his thoughts. “Let’s go get her.”
“Not yet.”
“Why?”
“I want to see if she was followed.”
Watching the screen, she could see Becca trembling as she made her way to the bar. It was full, except for the seat at the very end—the one the bartender was instructed to leave empty. Using the microphone, she instructed the bartender, who was wearing an earpiece, to offer the girl the seat. She continued to watch as the bartender smiled at Becca and offered her the stool. Becca, her face dirty, her hair knotted, took the stool, and stared straight ahead, not saying a word. The bartender placed a glass of water in front of her. With shaking hands, Becca drank with fierce abandon.
Sin’s heart broke as she watched the girl drink as if her thirst couldn’t be quenched. Fifteen minutes later, not having noticed anyone suspicious in the crowd, she radioed Tiffany who was sitting at a table with a couple of coeds. In response, Tiff walked over to Becca, introduced herself, and gently took her hand.
Seconds later, the door to the security office opened and Tiffany led Becca inside.
“Stubbs, I need your deputies to stay here until closing. If they see anyone with a Black 6 tattoo, have your men take them into custody.”
“Do you think Onyx will send his men into the bar?”
“Not if he’s as smart as we’ve been told, but pressure makes people do stupid things. We’re better safe than sorry.”
Troy radioed his undercover officers and received a ten-four. He then radioed the men who were stationed out back to make sure the coast was clear.
Getting an affirmative, Sin led everyone out back and helped Becca into the back of an unmarked car with blacked-out windows. Before the car pulled out of the lot, Sin smiled assuredly at President Lancaster’s daughter. “Becca, I’d like you to lie down on the back seat. I doubt we’ll run into any trouble, but I want to make sure you’re safe.”
Becca did so without question. Sin wasn’t sure if she was just being agreeable or if the physical and psychological abuse she had endured over the past few days made her passive. Unfortunately, she believed it to be the latter.
Pulling out of the parking lot, they meandered through the back streets of Key West before leaving the big Key. A few miles north on the Overseas Highway, they drove onto the access road leading into the old Key West airport.
22
“Why the airport?” Troy said as they pulled off the road.
“Carmelita is home with Maria. I don’t want to show up with Becca in this condition. She can freshen up here before we go to the house.” Pulling into the airport, Sin couldn’t help but think of Charlie. Although the Johnson Place was Charlie’s home, the airport was where he spent most of his time. Before he was an FBI agent and one of the world’s greatest conspiratorialists, he was a grease monkey and a pilot. There was nothing he liked more than wrenching on an old plane. The hanger he—she—owned was where he spent most of his time. It had also been her refuge since she was a young, disgruntled teen.
Pulling up to the front of the hanger, she had Troy park the car, so the back-passenger door abutted the accordion door of the building. Using a key fob, she opened the hanger door, got out of the car, and opened the door for Becca. She and Tiffany, who had been sitting in the back seat along with Becca, helped the traumatized girl inside while Troy did a security sweep outside.
Sin directed Becca and Tiffany toward a room in the back of hanger, the living area Charlie had built for her to crash at when she was younger. It was still one of the few places where she felt totally at ease.
Sin looked over at Becca who was seated on the couch, stiff, as if afraid to move. Pulling up a chair, she faced Becca. The girl kept her head down and avoided eye contact. Sin motioned to Tiffany. “Top drawer of the tool box in the other room, you’ll find a wallet. Please bring it to me.” Sin waited until Tiff returned before saying anything else. As soon as she had the wallet, she opened it and showed Becca her badge—her real badge. “Becca, I’m a federal agent, working with your father to find you and Pia. Tiffany Swenson and Monroe County Sheriff’s Captain, Troy Stubbs, were instrumental in your release. Everyone here
